Pandora's Fanatic
by Tigerdust
Summary: Bilis Manger finally succeeds. Jack succumbs to temptation. The Doctor meets Ianto Jones. Events spiral out of control and there is slash! Must be another story by Tigerdust.....
1. Chapter 1

Creator's Note: Welcome back to the creepiest villian in Torchwood (Bilis Manger!). Please note I own nothing and, for the duration of this fic, Jack Harkness is mostly James Harper. If you haven't watched "The Real Jack Harkness" you may need to. Otherwise, the name thing won't make sense. My muse, of course, wouldn't let this one go. I wrote this almost all together (except for a lovely brief nap and some garlic bread).

--On With the Show!--

He was lost, somewhere in those dreams of his. He was in the dark, small shadows and pockets of light dancing all around him. The room itself was dirty on all sides, but it wasn't the room or the shabby curtain that he was concentrating on.

It was Jack's trembling fingers and his assumed identity being called out. It was the cautious, embarrassed smile. It was the downcast eyes, trying not to be too hungry. It was a need to forget the glares of his men. It was the way he was strong and yet it took James' hands in his own to calm things.

James felt himself fall down on the bed gently, Jack beneath him, his eyelashes tenderly raking James' cheek. They admired each other just momentarily before Jack had taken a try at James' buttons. James had smiled as he had begun to help. And now, there was nothing left but the trousers.

Jack was somehow more calm in knowing he was going to commit the act, in knowing he had left Nancy's words far behind, her desperate words. And now he was the desperate one, craving another man's touch. He watched the pants slide away from James, noting the tan against the briefs and the physique, clearly he had been fit for a very long time.

"Going to leave me alone in this?" Jack felt the bed underneath him. He had been leaning to one side, just watching James undress further and admiring him in the smoggy night. He smiled faintly before his dark uniformed pants were stripped away. James was on top of him in an instant. He went to remove the final light from the room.

"No. Leave it on. I want to see you." It wasn't a command or an order. A suggestion that made James smile as he brought a deeper kiss onto Jack's quivering lips. He felt hands begin to gingerly bring themselves to his hips. He felt Jack's gun beginning growing against his own.

"Careful of that weapon, soldier. Someone might get hurt."

"We both might."

"Not while we're here, together." The words were a whisper in the shadow from James to Jack.

And them the alarm sounded and Jack's eyes popped open. He reached out with his fingers, realizing that there was warmth in the empty space of his sheets and a pair of shiny black Oxfords were rising away very quickly. In his groggy state, he called out for Jack. There was no response.

He went out into the rest of his bedroom, searching the area for his trousers and a shirt, his trademark suspenders still hanging around his belt loops. He shrugged, unable to find a shirt.

"Woah! Jack, have a rough night?"

"Why thank you Gwen. Good Monday morning to you too."

"Guess I should be more used to you being shirtless now, shouldn't I?"

"I wouldn't get too used to it." Jack replied grimly, finding his button-down shirt hanging from the coat rack.

"Good morning. First round of coffee?"

Gwen turned to Ianto. "So, Ianto, another good round of naked hide and seek then?"

"Must you be so jealous in the morning?" Ianto thought better of himself when he saw the Captain's eyes slightly less sharp than normal. "Gwen, I've left a letter on your desk."

"Fine. I can take the hint." She tore from the room, hands in her pocket.

"What's wrong, Jack?"

"Don't call me that."

"You're pale and shaking, was it a bad dream?"

Jack smiled forlornly. "On the contrary. I think I found my answer."

"To what, sir?"

"Ianto, I, was dreaming about the Real Captain Jack Harkness."

"He was quite a man, wasn't he? He was the one in that picture with you and Tosh."

"Yes."

"I could be jealous, but you're with me, aren't you?"

"Am I, Ianto? Am I ever fair to you?"

"I don't push and I don't expect things. If I did that, I'd be Gwen. Just look at her, all shook by death and loss. She expects us to go running off at any moment." Ianto glanced from the shades at Gwen, who had been allowing work to seep through more and more after Owen and Tosh had succumbed to the great fate of all Torchwood employees in one way or the other.

"But what if I did again?"

"We need you here."

"He needs me."

"He's dead. You said so yourself last night."

"But he's alive, in my dream. He could have fallen through the Rift, couldn't he?"

"Jack, don't hope for impossible things. I should know."

"You're right."

Gwen's voice called out. "Ianto? Who sent me this picture?"

Jack followed Ianto back to Gwen's desk near the couches. She was pale, her eyes wide. Jack took the photo from her hands while Ianto checked the return address. He frowned. "I thought you knew these people."

"I do. I do. It's my mum's address. But this is impossible."

"I don't quite see what's wrong, then?"

"My mum has blond hair. Always has. This is not her picture and yet this is her name and her handwriting scrawled across the back. The handwriting doesn't match on the return address. Who could have sent it and what does it mean?"

"Did your mother ever dye her hair?"

"No, she couldn't have. Our family's hair doesn't hold dye. We have some Irish roots."

"Oh dear. I don't mean to be the harbinger of doom, but..."

"Ianto, what is it?"

Gwen and Jack turned to find Ianto working at one of the terminal computers with a handwriting sample software that was running at very lengthy speed. He turned back to Jack, and then looked from Jack to Gwen. "This handwriting matches Bilis Manger. Tosh has a sample from every case we've done and it's a match. Gwen, he's back. And it looks as though he's going after you."


	2. Chapter 2

Burning embers leapt from the twisted wreckage of the hull. Bullets whizzed through the trees and through his ears. All around was chaos and shouting, the men imploring and concetrating when the could. Captain Jack Harkness was somewhere in the wreckage, dazed and wracked with coughs. Soon he would suffocate, a fate none of his men would have endured.

Sure, they had loathed him for a short while, but Jack knew his job. How could they begrudge him happiness they didn't understand? They gave him free range at meals, didn't much talk to him in the halls and stayed away from his quarters altogether, but they supported him and listened to him. They would forgive him in time.

But he was there in the wreckage and they were ambushed. There was no turning back. Jack Harkness ran among the boiling wreckage, looking for a window or a door. He beat against the smoking hull with rocks and with his own body, barely covering his face and extremely frantic. A weakened spot caved and he could see the form of Jack begin to slump over on the bench, trying to be at heroic peace and knowing he'd lead his men well.

James Harper grabbed Jack Harkness under his arms and carried him away from the collapsing hull of the airship. He grimaced as he moved the weight farther and farther from the battle, hearing a few pops and the victorious whoops of the men, but waiting to hear it. Jack coughed and flailed a bit. He felt the touch of James.

"You saved me." His hand moved toward and across James' jaw.

"Of course I did. Think I'd leave that ruffian in charge of your unit."

Jack coughed. "Don't make me laugh, James."

They smiled warmly at each other, left alone with James' coat keeping the heat away from the weakened man and some water to keep them both hydrated. They returned to his room in the barracks alone.

"Your men support you."

"They are good men, but they don't understand this."

"What's to understand?"

"You're going to make me say it, James?"

"No. I just wanted to see you blush."

"You're very good at that." He gulped again, his eyes suddenly large and afraid. "I thought, the things I thought before you crashed through the hull..."

"None of them matter because I'm here now. And so are you. You smell like smoke."

"I need a shower."

"We both do."

Jack had a private shower in his room, away from his soldiers and James knew that. They were glad for the advantage of it tonight.

Jack felt James' weight against his own as the water sprayed against his back and misted against James. He felt the grime and the doubt begin to wash away as James took soap and began to scrub and massage, beginning with his hair. Jack concetrated on the sweeping motions of his arm and didn't whisper a word.

"Shouldn't it be my turn?"

Jack's alarm went off and he awoke with a start. The same daze was in his eyes, but this time, there was no pair of black Oxfords climbing away from his bed. Ianto greeted him with a warm smile and a cup of warmer coffee.

"Good to see you this morning, sir."

"Ianto, what have I told you about that?"

"You told me it kind of turned you on."

"I mean, the part after that."

"Did you have any luck at the clock shop?" Ianto used one of the Harkness tactics of avoidance, something he learned quite well from Jack.

"A whole load of nothing. The shop was completely boarded up and empty."

"Well, not completely empty."

"What did you do Ianto?"

"I took the liberty of liberating the lock from his back office safe. He forgot one piece of paper within."

"I'm impressed, Ianto. And what did that one sheet say?"

"Just an address."

"You're holding out on me."

"Wonder why Gwen's not here?"

"You let her go out alone?"

"She didn't give me much of a choice."

"I guess we're paying a visit to...?"

"Her mum's."

"Oh perfect."

Jack didn't like to think about the last time he had met Gwen's family. Except for the reception, the wedding had been nothing except an overall disaster. As Jack pulled up, Gwen rushed into his arm's crying.

"Gwen, what's wrong? You've got to calm down and tell me what's happened."

"That, that man is not my grandfather!"

"Who?"

"Bilis Manger. Mum says he and my grandmother have been married for years. She says he's at a convention in Norway. It's not true! It can't be true!" Gwen collapsed into tears and Jack looked around for some support. It took a few minutes, but she calmed down enough to be driven back to the Hub.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack wasn't sure where he was now. All he could feel was the grass moving in shifts all around him. The night was still, barely punctuated by the hiss of the wind and vague snores somewhere near him. He groped around in the darkness and felt the arm of a shirt. In the night, he couldn't tell who it was. But there was an arm attached to the shirt.

"You're awake. You should try sleeping more."

"What time is it?"

"Two. You still have two hours until our shift."

"Our shift?"

"You joined this regiment because of me, remember? We're a team."

James couldn't remember. But, then again, Jack's eyes did that to him. He lied in a nod and then nuzzled his head back into Jack and felt the younger man's heartbeat. It felt like a real embrace, something he couldn't help but fall in love with. Yes, James felt something. Something that happened, a certain type of electricity while Jack addressed his men or simply walked into a room. It was the way he carried himself, the way he was so confident. It was the way he held Jack when he needed to be held that seemed to make all the difference. And the fact he could communicate all this with a heartbeat.

James let his hand travel along that heartbeat, feeling various sensitive parts of Jack's skin.

"You'd better quit. Wouldn't want the men to be more jealous, would you?"

"They'd be crazy not to feel that way."

"Jack, I don't want this to end."

"Who says it has to?"

"What happens when they station you somewhere else. What happens when we get separated?"

"I wouldn't worry about that." James' eyes moved away, knowing that the risks outweighed the benefits since Jack Harkness hadn't really died when he was supposed to anyways.

"But you do worry?"

"Do, do I make you happy Jack?"

"James, I never thought I could be happy after the first man I lost. But then I was found, found by you. It was fate."

"That's what worries me."

"Come here." Jack took James in a kiss, sliding James into a hug and over his body. "You worry too much."

Jack's alarm went off. And this time, he threw it across the room in anger. The satisfaction of the smash against the wall changed his grimace into a smirk as he ascended into his office. He stopped to find a note pinned to his jacket.

"Ianto?!"

"He's not here Jack. Did you find your note?"

"He went after a Weevil himself?!" He took a sip of stale coffee and listened to the sound of Gwen's heels hitting the floor.

"He thought we should concentrate on the Bilis mystery. Ianto can look after himself Jack Now, Bilis said he was in Norway, so I followed that lead. I wasn't sure if it was that reliable coming from my mother, but what else have we to go on? A man who can shift through time like we move through holidays is not only psychotic but dangerous..."

Jack took it upon himself to tune Gwen out and concentrate on why Ianto would have left to take care of Weevil with just a note. In the old days, he wouldn't have been so careless as to go without back-up. But now it was too late; the entire team had been ripped to shreds and while Gwen mistook Ianto's boldness, Jack couldn't. He knew the sharp, young Welshmen would rather head into danger than face another day with Jack and Gwen in their current states. He tuned back in as Gwen's tone changed for the third time in her little speech.

"...Besides, we have to take a drive. There is a clock conference at Bad Wolf Bay in Norway this weekend. If we leave now, we could still make it."

"I could have slept in the car. Especially with your driving."

"You're taking the wheel on the way. I want to save my energy for when I punch the bastard out."

On the other side of Cardiff, Ianto was following and weak and chilling trail of a non-existent Weevil. At least, he hoped the Weevil was non-existent. His own car was parked nearly a mile away, the GPS Rift monitor chirping happily and completely oblivious to the shivers going through Ianto's spine. Ianto wished they were shivers of fear, but rather they were shivers of excitement.

Ianto found the Weevil in the back alley behind the skeletal remains of a mansion near a dumpster. He was half-hidden and growling; Ianto removed the weevil spray and began his menacing dance. He was quick, a flash or two of the spray and the Weevil was rolling on the ground, confused but not in pain. Ianto never heard the man behind him or the sound of the metal pipe thwacking his head. The last thing he remembered was the black bag engulfing his mind in darkness.

The ride itself to Norway was silent and tense. There hadn't been much laughter in Torchwood since Tosh and Owen died and each day had been a little snarkier between Gwen and Ianto, almost enough to make Jack erupt. No one wanted to admit how broken they were, wrapping each stone closer until they were cast into their own seas of misery. Jack was slowly beginning to see and understand that maybe humanity couldn't save itself. That maybe Torchwood was a lost cause. He welcomed the dreams now, a frighteningly real place to hide from the things he and Ianto couldn't say to each other anymore.

Gwen fiddled with the map, and several older villagers in several villages of Norway, including one very overly-chipper pasty blond tour guide, until they found the convention. But, as Gwen had predicted, all that they found was an abandoned ballroom, decorated with balloons and tables. Gwen stomped back to her room crossly, not wanting to talk. Jack drove to the sea, hoping that the waves could calm his nerves.


	4. Chapter 4

The dream became more vivid than anything he had felt before. Jack was with him, against him, the sound of the sea crashing inbetween the throes of ecstacy. He was the whisper, the escape, the last pressing bits of humanity. Jack erased those precious fears and doubts he felt, something which he could only attribute to Torchwood. The feeling of sand and spray beneath him, an aura of encouragement, made the sounds of Jack in his ear and tingles in his body that much more real.

Jack awoke with a start. But this time, he wasn't so sure it had been a dream. The sand was still there. The pounding surf was the first thing he saw. But there was no real Jack. Just him, with a wrenched back from having fallen asleep watching the tides, and the faintest hints of a sunburn beginning.

Jack staggered to his feet and began to walk back towards the car, not severely surprised that Gwen had not called in yet. It's not like she had anywhere to go without him. Two figures came towards him on the beach. The first was slender and was wearing a dark jacket. He had the gait of a wiry man or a very masculine woman. In a few paces, Jack could tell it was a man with silvery hair wearing an ascot. He cocked his weapon.

"Stay where you are, Bilis!"

"Why, Captain. So pleasant to see you in Norway. Keep following me like this and people might get ideas."

"What did you do to Gwen's family and why?" Jack's eyes rolled forward with glaring anger, his stiff body alert.

"Is your precious team all you care about, Captain?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Oh, but I think it does. I believe you know the man with me. You met quite some time ago." Bilis walked a pace to right. Captain Jack Harkness and Captain "James Harper" stared at each other, one dazed and other exhilirated."

"What have you done, Bilis?"

"James..."

"You stay where you are." He leveled his weapon on Jack, unable to believe it and hardening the incredible tone in his voice. "This is all a trick, this is a product of Bilis' twisted desire to destroy us all."

"No, James, he saved me. Or rather, you did."

"Yes, Captain. It's amazing what I can do when I put my mind to it."

"Why would you do this Bilis? I destroyed Abaddon. You have nothing left."

"It's true you did destroy Abadoon and that upset me greatly. It took many hours to thinik of revenge upon you and your team. You just had to go nosing around in my business of course. But this isn't my doing, Captain. It's yours."

"The dreams."

"Yes, of course, the dreams. The first was the hardest to plant without your permission but it became easier as you excepted them. You changed the timeline, Captain, not me." His features twisted into a skeletal smile. "So now, I want you and Jack to be together. Or should I say Jack and Jack."

"What is he talking about James?"

"You aren't real."

Jack walked towards James, trying to hide his want to run towards the man and kiss him. "No, I'm very real." His hand brushed the tip of James' trembling gun. "We met at a party the night before I should have died. Bilis explained a lot of it to me when you disappeared, about how you would come back. And he was always right, you always did. We should thank him, not shoot him."

"He's dangerous, not an altruist. And you, you shouldn't be alive. I excepted that!"

"You're not alive either, not from what I here. I can only think of one way to prove to you how real I am, James."

James felt Jack's hand carress his jaw and lean in before the air was ripped apart by another bullet.

"Step away from Jack!" Gwen's voice was broken and nervous.

"And you...!" She walked up to Bilis and leveled her eyes at him. "Don't you dare run without an explanation."

"My dear, I am sorry for all I've put you through. It must be quite troubling. But my intentions were pure. I wanted to give Jack the one thing none of you could. I brought him the man who's name he took that he fell in love with the night he and Toshiko fell into the Rift."

"You bastard."

"You should watch your words speaking to your elders, miss. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Oh no you don't." Gwen took hold of the back of his jacket and she began a descent into madness with him, leaving James' staring into Jack's eyes, almost forgetting to breath. He took a step backwards. The sound of Gwen's body as it fell into the sand, ripped apart by a merciless Timeshiffting villian as she fell unprotected through the ripping and howling deafness of the Rift, barely met Jack's ears.

Jack thought of Ianto and suddenly took his eyes away. He had to. His phone had been silent and now he was worried. "What has he done to Ianto?"

"All Bilis said was that we'd be alone for this meeting. The meeting we need. I've waited so long, each time you came back . He said they were only dreams for you. But they weren't dreams for me. I, James...I think..."

"Just stop, Jack. Stop before you say whatever it is you're going to."


	5. Chapter 5

Ianto swore he was hallucinating when he woke up. Although, the last time he hallucinated he had pleasant dreams about clouds of candy floss. There was nothing in the owner's manual about boiler rooms. Unless it was symbolic. But then, what was so symbolic about a boiler room?

His pockets were clear, he felt around with his hips since his wrists were chained. He was half-sitting and half-standing. Ianto was barely able to read through the blurs in his vision but he believed it was a gas leak and that the cause of all this was Bilis. He knew that he didn't want to die, not like this, not before he resolved what he had to.

Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, a plan clicked into action he had thought of after meeting Lisa, through Bilis' implanted panic. He decided to remedy the course of action he would take after that, and so his thoughts turned to one Martha Jones. Ianto's concentration was wavering, everything went double for him, but he found the strength and turned on the emergency phone implant chip near his the end of his right eyebrow, undetectable and coded with alien technology. He fought for words, slurring most of them.

"Dial Martha Jones."

"Hello?" The voice rang in his head, he smiled at the familiar phrase, beginning to get giddy from the fumes.

"Martha? It's Jones, Ianto Jones."

"Ianto? What's wrong? What's happened."

"Little time...Call Doctor...Torchwood beyond repair...Bilis manger, time shifter...Gas leak...Need Doctor..."

"Ianto, you're fading. Try and concentrate! Ianto?! Oh God!"

Martha swiveled her chair back to her computer and begin typing furiously, finding his coordinates and than typing three choice encoded phrases into her phone settings. It was an emergency phrase encoded for one man only. Along with that phrase, she sent the GPS coordinates from Ianto's alien phone signature. Martha hoped she wasn't too late.

The sound of the Blue Box never reached Ianto's ears. His vision was nearly gone.

"Bloody...what is that smell? Hello? What do we have here? Well, you're not Martha, but she must know you then...onto the Tardis...let's get you fixed up."

Ianto felt himself swimming back to the surface the moment the bumpy ride began. As his vision returned, he recognized the feeling of a floor and that his arms were no longer tied. However, the man with toasted almond hair wearing a suit, fiddling with a large column of objects and buttons, was an alien to him.

Literally, he couldn't remember ever having met the Doctor. But this isn't exactly what he had expected. "You're awake then. We're on our way back to your Hub. Mind telling me what happened?"

"His name is Bilis Manger. He is a time shifter and well, since Abaddon..."

"Hold on, he's a time-traveling disciple of Abaddon?! Bloody hell. I can't imagine how you've not managed to die yet."

"Torchwood is very resourceful, I'll have you know."

"Yes, and you all go mucking about saving Cardiff. But do you ever wonder if you're doing more good than the hassle is worth? I mean, think on it. You were created in an effort to catch me. Me! One of the good guys!"

"Been waiting a long time to unload that?"

"Yes, yes I have."

"Feel better?"

"As a matter of a fact, I do."

"Well, then. Let's not waste time. I think we'd better head to Norway, Bad Wolf Bay, I believe it's called."

The Doctor shuddered. "And why, why would we need to visit that particular place?"

"That's where Bilis is rumored to be."

The Doctor sighed heavily on cue. "Jack bloody Harkness, you'd better be worth this."

The sound of the Tardis materilizing back at that particular beach, three dunes from where James and Jack were locked in an effortless struggle. Jack James saw Gwen fall to the ground and began running.

"No, James!" Jack grabbed his arm. "She's already gone. No one can travel with Bilis. He's immune to the Rift."

"She was one of my operatives, Jack. You should know I, to lose another one..."

"The let me be there for you. You can't be alone James."

"My name isn't James. It's Jack."

Jack stiffened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were supposed to die in that hull. Did Bilis tell you who pirated your name? I was a con man, Jack! I was never supposed to meet you, to..."

"To what, Jack?"

"...To fall for you."

"Stop it. We did meet. And now that young woman is dead. What good is going to come from worrying about it? War is hell, we know that. Jack, we only have each other. We have to hold on."

"Call me James. I'll always be James to you."

"James, all we have is each other."

"I...I like the sound of that. But you and I..."

"Neither of us is supposed to be here. But here we are, here and now. My heart and your heart. My eyes and your eyes. My lips and your lips."

James could feel Jack's hands sliding around his waist and he was aware of a burning sensation coming from somewhere in his chest. That voice and those eyes, they were real. It jarred him and he leaned in for a kiss, the sound of the bullet never quite reaching his ears.


	6. Chapter 6

Something wasn't right. Jack had a different sort of breath, punctuated by brandy and mint. This breath wasn't his. Those hands weren't his. Those eyes were changing. James couldn't pull away. He struggled but the hands became claws and he felt them pierce his rib cage, the sound of distinct laughter as he fell back to the sand.

"Master Apollyon, Brother of Abaddon, known in Greek mythology as Pandora. And now, thanks to you, the Destructor of the Universe."

"Not so fast, Bilis."

"Ianto Jones! And the Doctor! Well, how resourceful of you, young man!"

"People underestimate me."

"I see. I'll have to make sure you die next time. I'm sure you know my companion, however."

"That's just like Jack...going on about the world ending and he's kissing some bloke...or..."

The Doctor and Ianto gasped. The monster was changing, no that wasn't a monster. That was Lisa, or was it Rose? Ianto shook his head, focusing on his logic over his emotion. Jack lie gasping in the sand, his face sunk in, while the gruesome shell of a white fairy creature hung over him and Bilis' leveled his slinky eyes there way.

"Give it up, Mr. Jones. You can't resist your ultimate temptation. Gwen never stood a chance either way. You've lost."

"We haven't lost yet." The bullet bounced away carelessly from the shell of the creature and Ianto cursed in Welsh. "Doctor! Doctor?! We've got to get Jack and Gwen into the Tardis and get out of here!"

"What? Yes, yes of course. The Tardis." He was in awe of the creature, trying to shake the feeling that the vision walking towards him was not Rose. Ianto's weapon wasn't working, something had to work, but what? The Doctor ran towards the brunette, lying almost dead and savagely beaten in the sand. "Keep her distracted, Ianto."

"I'll do my best, Doctor!" Ianto mentally went through his list of ways to distract a person. Where in the devil would he find a coffee machine on a beach? Scratch that I guess. He continued to back up, watching the Doctor out of the corner of his eyes.

"It's no use, Ianto. You can't fight what we had forever. I was your life, Jack is proof that I am your life. He didn't feel for you."

"I, I didn't want him to feel for me. All I needed to do was feel."

"Who are you trying to fool, Ianto? Me or yourself?"

"It doesn't matter."

"But of course it matters. You matter, Ianto."

"If only you meant that."

"But I do, Ianto. Put the gun down."

"Fools have died believing lesser things."

"Come on, Ianto! I've got them in the Tardis."

Ianto broke contact, but she was still there before him. He was trapped, unsure of how to get away. Maybe this is what was meant by the end. Yes, didn't that make sense. The weight of his weapon was reassuring. The Doctor couldn't see why, even turned away, he couldn't just run from the creature. Only Ianto saw the projection in his mind.

Ianto had no other option. He raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. He heard a click. There were no bullets left. He threw the gun at the mirage and then through it. His face turned incredibly pale and he began running through the Tardis, her voice moving against his steps, trying to stop him.

"My god, that man is insane."

"I know. But how do you fight something you love when logic fails?"

The door shut behind them and Ianto looked at the two shells of humanity stretched across the main area of the Tardis.

"What could you fight love with?"

Ianto bent down and looked at Jack, caressing his cheek. His features were returning to normal, but he knew that nothing would ever be between them. Gwen, poor girl, had the look of someone mauled by a werewolf, nearly gutted and frightened to death. If she was still alive, she'd never recover. She'd have to be retconned or at least put in an asylum. This is what Torchwood did. And Ianto had had enough.

"Doctor, when this is all done, would you do me one more favor?"

"Depends on the favor."

"Help me destroy the Hub."

"I never thought anyone would ask. You have a plan then?"

"Call Martha. I need her help with Gwen."


	7. Chapter 7

Martha was shocked by the call she received, but seeing Gwen beyond repair with an IV in her arm almost made her vomit. The power in the Rift and Ianto's voice explaining the plan was almost too much. She sat, watching Gwen breathe, suddenly feeling very scared and small.

"Martha, do you understand?"

"I do. I can, I can set the cover-up for you and help make the explosion look real. But Ianto, what will you do?"

"The Doctor has asked me on."

Martha turned and smiled at him. "I think that's wonderful. But what about your dabbling?"

Ianto turned to look at Jack. "It's been a comfort for some time to know he was there. Maybe we loved one another, maybe it was just the moment or the insanity of it all. But, much like Myfanwy, he belongs in another place and time, just like our relationship did. I learned so much about him and yet I may have known nothing at all."

She raised from her chair and squeezed his arm. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. My adventures are just starting."

The Doctor peeked his head into the infirmary. "Are you ready, Ianto?"

"No, but that's never stopped me before."

"We've reached the destination."

The streets of Cardiff were cold and Ianto watched pairs of lovers move home against the wind. He stood in the center of an abandoned street and made his way to the Plass. Beneath the moonlight, he saw Lisa stroking the watery words and wondering what they meant.

"You're here."

"Of course. I was waiting for you, hoping to see where you'd been hiding yourself all this time."

"I could never hide from you, could I?"

"Afraid not. We have an extraordinary love, you and I."

"The trouble is that I no longer love you."

"That's not true."

"And you love Bilis. When the darkness took you, I finally began to understand. As I recovered, it became clear to me. You fell to the darkness and my faith couldn't save you. That spark couldn't save you. Your humanity was gone, and in it so was mine. I don't love Lisa and you couldn't love me, not now."

"Ianto, I..."

"I'm not finished. If you had been wise and strong, instead of greedy, you would have become someone whom I loved just then. The man Bilis tricked you into becoming Lisa. I'm amazed you didn't see it before, in my mind. But what about Bilis? Isn't he supposed to love you? But why on Earth would you act like his minion unless you felt something for him?"

"I never thought of it that way."

"Of course you don't." The Doctor's voice fought for control as he stepped from the shadows. "You villains never think of anyone but yourself. It's just selfish prying into people's minds and abusing those who try to care about you. Bilis and you belong for each other out of selfishness. How I could think you were ever Rose amazes me. If I had truly loved her, I never would have taken her away like I did. It was selfish love. That's not love at all."

"If you were really love, Pandora, you'd go and take from Bilis what you want. That's all love is."

"You can't mean that."

"I do."

"So this costume is finally useless then? Your brains have evolved?"

The Doctor looked at Ianto. "The smart ones have."

"Then I should go and find Bilis."

"That might be wise."

She was gone in an instant.

"How anticlimactic."

"Were you standing in the shadows that whole time, Martha?"

"I thought if the world were to end, I'd want to be outside for it."

"Come on, you two, we've got some mayhem and clean-up."

Ianto set himself to whistling that evening, some days later. Soon, he and the Doctor would have left and he'd never be back to Earth, lifted away from his memories and pain. The Doctor and him got on quite well and he'd be happy to serve the last of the Time Lords. He would never pretend to be Rose and the Doctor would never pretend to be Jack. It might finally be the perfect Time Lord and Companion relationship. But there was one last end to tie up.

Jack awoke flailing on a creaking bed, unsure of where he was. He groped in the darkness, cursing until he found a light. The light clicked on and he saw he was in an officer's room. But where was he? The last thing he could recall was Bad Wolf Bay...

The doorknob clicked and James jumped back at the sight of Jack, who was less startled than he. In fact, James himself tripped over a wastebasket as thought it were on cue. "You don't have to look so startled to see me. After all, I had you personally brought here."

"But how? Are you real?"

"I'm as real as I need to be. Just try not to be too jumpy, the men might get nervous, and I don't need them anymore nervous than they already are." Jack stood at the threshold, observing James, trying not to feel that hunger well up inside himself again. Not since he had spoken with that new clerk. What was his name? Ianto Jones, Welsh volunteer. The one who had brought James Harper back to him. "Oh, here. Ianto gave me this note for you."

James took the note from Jack and noticed it was set on a bit of yellow parchment. He read it once and then looked up at Jack. "It's too perfect."

"Well, you could go spoiling me with words like that. But there are a few things better than words. I'd like to talk strategy with you."

"Strategy?"

Jack leaned forward and James gulped before kissing Jack. Yes, brandy and mint. He fell deeper into the kiss, letting the note fall onto the floor and his eyes into the back of his head.

_Dear Jack,_

_By the time you get this, I will have already left with the Doctor. I guess it's my turn, isn't it? We've destroyed the Hub and taken the alien technology. Martha has agreed to cover the whole thing up. Pandora is currently convinced that "she" should be going after Bilis, thanks to yours truly and the Doctor. Gwen is currently retconned and we sent her to an insane asylum. The Rift did something to her. But, since you're in the forties again, which I hope you've noticed by now, it's not much of a concern to you. All things are taken care of._

_Except for one thing. I want you to be with Jack. Yes, I know we had a romance, but we weren't happy in those last days. Don't be attached to memories of me. We might meet again as old friends, we may never meet again, but I want to keep what we had. I'll always feel something for you, but I doubt I could ever love you again. _

_I wish you all the best in regaining your lost humanity. This man is a good start. I moved the training, so each day you get will be a reality and a blessing. Of course, he may die again or you may actually have to take a different name for yourself. I won't let those details worry me now. The Doctor can always heal it if need be. I wonder how he takes his coffee?_

_Sincerely,_

_Ianto Jones_


End file.
